FTRS ..a message for HQ Land

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LE

Dear Sirs,
I bimbled along to the official army board today, to see what positions were available, to serve alongside my vastly more qualified regular bretheren. I note, with some alarm, that FTRS means just that. I was horrified to note, that to get my "knees brown" I was required in some cases, to consider serving for 3 years....

....mmmmmmm if I wanted to do that, I think I would just join the gods in the regular seats.

So, could you consider another option? How about an STRS or short term reserve service. For example, One month plus, to cover regulars on leave, or enabling them to get leave, or just filling slots on deployments or exercise, and we both know you're short of bods.

Many of us, in the frowned upon wannabees, would welcome the chance to serve, and to help out, but not at the detriment of the people I employ, or the company I own. A lot more TA soldiers, would serve an FTRS, if the terms were a LOT more flexible. It is a frequent discussion topic in my Regiment, and a lot of the guys are saying one to 3 months away from the wife and kids...where's me travel warrant ?

So is it possible to consider?

I remain yours respectfully

********
(Number edited for anonymousness, and the last time I said anything, u robbed me commission, by shutting me regiment down)

He had bought a large map representing the sea,
Without the least vestige of land:
And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be
A map they could all understand.

Old-Salt

PTP. I perceive problems with attachments being too short, as you need time to settle, training implications etc. However 3 months? Maybe. If I was you, I would send the very same message to the consultation paper bods. There is a link to the site concerned from this sites links. Cheers and good luck

War Hero

I think FTRS terms are fine compared to the old system of join regs do the job your rank/qualifications (TA) put you in oh by the way you'll only get payed as a recruit!!!!!
This isn't bullshit ask any of the Lads from 74 RE AND 5 Royal Irish Rangers who went to the Falklands WO2's were paid as recruits and Records and manning saw nothing wrong with that. It took intervention of Members of Parliment to sort it out yet the Rangers were part of the Falklands Garrison one guy I heard nearly had his house reposessed. This was despite assurances that they would be getting the same as the regulars .
I've approached my employer about getting leave of absence to go FTRS or Callout and been told no that i'd have to resign and effectivley go onto tempory contracts to do so.

Doctors...A highly qualified professional or a Failed Vet......discuss

error_unknown

Guest

What about an attachment to a regular unit going on exercise. In the last year I've been to Canada for two months on Ex Iron Anvil and just returned from two months in Kenya on Ex Grand Prix. It does depend on your trade though. As a VM my skills are in demand pretty much all over, and as I'm not currently working I'm free to do anything I want. Pay seems ok and I've received LOA but not LSSA. Do TA personnel receive this?

Clanker

An FTRS contract can be entered into for not less than 3 months, up to a maximum of 42 months (you may be able to sign a new contract for the same post or move into another vacancy - sort this at least 3 months before the end of your contract). This depends on how long the advertised post is available for. You can serve on FTRS up to 55 (Full commitment) or 60 (Limited/home committment), the tacos however are different between full & ltd.
FTRS is fine as long as you carefully watch the contract you sign, and the unit you are posted to fully understands what FTRS is (in my experience none do).
If you decide to move into married accommodation (Full committment) make sure your house is rented out and available to move back into at least 3 months prior to your contract ending.
Enjoy

E

error_unknown

Guest

I am currently serving on FTRS. Before that I did two operational tours (not back to back) and know a bit about the ins and outs and the differences between the types of engagement. I had the pleasure of having "a career interview" with an SO1 from HQ Land and I hope you will be pleased to know that I mentioned to him how extremely nauseous it is trying to move from an operational commitment to FTRS. Bascially APC will NOT process your paperwork for an FTRS until your operational contract is completely over (including POTL). It can then take up to six weeks for your TA unit to process the paperwork and then up to a further 12 weeks for APC to do their bit. So what are you supposed to do for employment in the meantime? Do some production line work that pays £5 per hour? No, you get into a vicious circle of doing tour after tour after tour because you get used to the money and although you'd really like to do a stint at home or in Germany you just can't afford to take the cut in pay for about between 4 - 6 months!! Why is it so difficult to sort this out? Surely if candidates were not suitable for FTRS this would come to light when they were on operations?

error_unknown

Guest

Yes nurse, I know that - why do you think I put the term "career interview" in inverted commas? You have missed the point that I was trying to make - why should it take so long to get on an FTRS especially if you are already "on the books" doing a tour? Wouldn't it be nice to enjoy all that POTL knowing that you'll be financially safe with a nice FTRS slot to fill when the holiday is over?

Clanker

I can't understand why anyone has to be completely discharged from an FTRS contract (different matter if it is an S type) before starting another one. In my first FTRS post I was extended in post with no problems. I've just started my next post, the day after my previous one ended. It has to be to make the admin simple.
PS I've never been through the RTMC, but I have to say something like it was definetly needed and I've only heard good things about it.

Clanker

Further to the post by nurse, there hasn't been much change in the way APC calculates pay rates.
I've just been penalised on my new contract for being judged suitable for selection for a post higher than my sub rank!
I now lose all my regular pension (I only lost half previously) and will have my pay abated by nearly £5 per day. All because I can (and am happy to) fill a vacancy that the regs can't/won't!
Talk about disincentives to go on FTRS!!!!!! ??? ??? ??? :-/

War Hero

try joining the regular army from the TA big girls blouse. ACIO cannot accept that you have security clearance already and get you re-vetted taking 6+months and costing them god knows how much.
Would you have any advice for someone going ftrs?

Doctors...A highly qualified professional or a Failed Vet......discuss

E

error_unknown

Guest

Nurse - I cannot believe that your ACIO put you through vetting again. All they had to do was get in touch with the PVRO at your TA unit and they could have sent out the paperwork proving your clearance - numpties!

What can I say about FTRS except that it is the most annoying experience I've ever had in my life. I am married to a regular soldier. We were posted outside of Europe (cannot specify where - it would give the game away). As soon as I found this out I applied for an FTRS on the off chance that there might be a suitable vacancy for me (knowing how clerks are in short supply). The RAOWO thought he'd try and cut some corners for me because as you know the paperwork is a nightmare. He took the bull by the horns, phoned APC and asked if there were any vacancies and would it be worth going through all the hassle if there was going to be nothing at the end. He was basically told by the regular MCM div that it was none of his business and to wind his neck in.

I went as "wife of" to the posting and guess what - there was a vacancy coming up (in my rank as well) and the person earmarked for the job couldn't come as he'd been downgraded. I offered to do it on an FTRS (as it turns out to the wrong person). I then tried putting my paperwork in again but by this time the APC had done a trawl and got one volunteer who got the job - well why not spend another couple of grand bringing someone out here when there is someone perfectly willing and able to do the job already there!?! I gave up after my TA unit refused to process my paperwork because my cert of dental fitness was from an army dentist (work that one out)!! ???

I got bored without a job, went back to UK and done an OP tour for six months. Then I found out that the person who filled the slot through the trawl had been picked up for promotion and was due posting. I wasn't going to give that a miss so I spoke to a senior offr in my corps who very kindly liaised with TA and Reg MCM Divs on my behalf and fixed it for me to join my husband.

I filled in all the paperwork and they still managed to fluff it up (ie I wasn't on the payroll and didn't get paid for the month before xmas!) but on the whole I cannot complain at all. I'm now in a job that I am more than capable of doing and not living the life of a bored housewife.

So all in all nurse I would say if you're trying to get an FTRS it's who you know and where you happen to be at the time. I will not be going straight into another FTRS I will wait and see where we go to next and take it from there. I'll see what units are around there and speak to the RAO of that unit to see if they are keen to have FTRS people. If they are not then it's their loss, I will find a unit where they are willing to take help when it is offered. It always helps if you've got a regular offr batting on your side though - they've got a bit of clout when they phone APC.

RTMC were very helpful through all this and I look forward to going back there to demob next year.

Crow

What utter rubbish. The concept of STRS. The TA are not well trained enough to drop in and out like this, and the time it would take to adminisrate would never be cost effective. This suggestion is endemic of everything that is wrong with the TA. Now you are asking for somehthing to do over the summer hoildays! No doubt you'd expect this fabulous contirbution to count towards your bounty, so you can receive a tax free lump sum for doing the same job, at your convenience, as a bloke who just gets paid normally. Either do it properly or don't do it at all.

Clanker

FTRS is an excellent concept as long as TA units brief and support it correctly. There are plenty of TA soldiers out there who are perfectly capable of filling non-specialised E2 posts for short periods, or even trade related posts if they have the background. It is often the TA units who are trying to hold onto their best attenders by not releasing information on what jobs are available out in the big, wide Army.

As for shorter periods of Service, then mobilised service is the way forward. 3 month deployments are widely available - just speak to the "Mobbers" at HQ LAND.

The Army will never recruit to it's full strength because the Government won't pay for it!

Old-Salt

SO3_Buns, Firstly I agree with your comments about STRS, a non workable concept but your comments reference the Tax Free Bounty are incorrect.

A; FTRS does not count towards bounty qualification.

B; The bounty is paid to compensate for the possibility of being called away from your job, family etc to go and serve if the need arise. Hence Higher the call out band higher the bounty

It is the same as being paid for being on "call out" as in any normal job. I realise this is a concept you may not understand because the Army pays you 24/7.

A young private in the TA gets just over £30 a day and is limited to 30 days training, so for £900 a year minus Tax and NI he gets extra strain on his family life and civilian career, loses some of his week-ends and two weeks annual holiday and has the risk of being mobilised where
A; his family don't get the support his regular counterparts families do.
B; Risks losing his job on his return, (there may be a law protecting his employment but does anyone believe the MOD could win a case if it came to court, they havent done for years).
And after all this his regular counterpart, as in you, are begrudging him a once yearly payment to compensate for his troubles but then again we dont do it for you or the 5hit money, we do it because we have a clearly misguided sense of loyalty to this country and its people!

And as I understood it the Regular Army get bounties (Albeit Taxed) at certain stages of their career just to stop you signing off, is that what you mean by "Either do it properly or don't do it at all.?"

LE

One of the most annoying things about the TA for "her indoors", is the way the Regular Army move course dates at almost zero notice.

A couple of years ago I was lined up for the three week NBC Cell Contollers course at Winterbourne Gunner. I had cleared it with my employer to have the time off (One week on the company, one week out of my 25 days leave and one week unpaid.) My wife had cleared the time with her employer (the NHS who seem to require about six months notice for midwives to take any leave).

The result, within a couple of weeks of the start, the course is shunted right one month! My employers were game but the NHS was not. I know the military are meant to be flexible, but where it meets with civvie street it does not always work.

For us married folk, the Bounty acts as a sweetner for our wives for the all cr@p they put up with throughout the year.

An officer:
is never lost, he is merely geographically disorientated.
is never drunk, he is socially confused.
never comes, he arrives.

Any statements I make while using this website are purely of my own opinion and are not to be construed as statements of fact and are not said with any intended malice. My opinions are a reflection of my earned right to freedom of expression and speech and do not necessarily reflect that of the site owners.

Clanker

We seem to be navigating this "FTRS" board like a geographically challenged officer! However, there are good and bad examples of TA Inf units all over the place. I am aware of a TA Inf unit in the NW (a mix of thieving Scousers, snobby country-types and plastic Jocks!) which DOES train on Warrior, DOES train and fire MILAN overseas and DOES have some strong leadership and guidance from the top.

TA Inf appears to have been pretty much written off by HQ LAND as they scratch around for a role, but the opportunities for integrated and different training are there to be had!

The Army will never recruit to it's full strength because the Government won't pay for it!

Swinger

hey it works the same the other way round, as a recruiting officer for TA I have never ceased to be amazed how I have to put ex regs (often just weeks out of the army) through vetting all over again. As far as the amry's concerned they are not the same person. Go figure?! ??? ???

try joining the regular army from the TA big girls blouse. ACIO cannot accept that you have security clearance already and get you re-vetted taking 6+months and costing them god knows how much.
Would you have any advice for someone going ftrs?